PAM DZAMA | What happened to the wonder?

The food drive pitting the Washington State Cougars against the Washington Huskies is a yearly tradition at the Albertsons and IGA supermarkets in Kingston. On the weekend before Thanksgiving, wagons appear outside the doors of both markets and lists of food needed for the food bank are given to shoppers. "Scores" are earned by the respective teams depending on the volume of food collected. Turkeys and hams count as a touchdown; a bag of potatoes scores a field goal. This year our donation went to the Cougars, they've been short on winning real football games but maybe they'll be luckier with this game. Regardless of the score this friendly rivalry creates a win for the community.

I hope the food collected last weekend helped families celebrate Thanksgiving Day yesterday. Thanksgiving is my husband's favorite holiday because it doesn't focus on showering family and friends with gifts they may not want, nor does it involve lavish, over-the-top decorations. Last week at the Kitsap Mall we were shocked and saddened to see Santa in his finery awaiting eager children.

When we were children there was a sense of wonder at the season and it was unheard of to see Christmas decorations, let alone Santa and his helpers, appear before the beginning of December. Now Christmas tree decorations can be found in September, or even earlier. Another shock greeted us at the mall when we came across several signs which read: "Midnight Madness. Stores open at Midnight Thanksgiving Night. All your holiday shopping done before the sun comes up!" I guess there's nothing better than finding that special gift at 3 a.m.

People shopping for holidays occurring in December shouldn't be in a race to fill their cart before the end of November, let alone before the sun rises the day after Thanksgiving. The traditional spirit of holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas becomes sadly diminished when the focus is on purchasing "stuff" as quickly as possible.

But sometimes traditions do change, like the traditional definition of marriage, and sometimes other items thought to be around forever might vanish entirely. An example of the latter was described by one eager shopper at the Wonder Hostess Outlet in Bremerton: "We came all the way from Silverdale for a Twinkie, and all we got was a Ding Dong." When I read that quote I thought some enterprising writer of children's books could use it as the title of a new series about disappearing goodies in school lunchboxes. Actually there's an element of truth in that thought.

Hostess Brands, Inc. the 85-year-old company which manufactured sweet treats like Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other snacks along with the staple of many families in the 1950s, Wonder Bread, was unable to weather a strike by their bakers' union. Last week it requested the bankruptcy court to grant it the ability to liquidate its operations nationwide, resulting in the loss of employment for 18,500 workers.

While the demise of this company was the result of many things, two in particular stand out. One was the inability of the business to adapt to a changing marketplace. Consumers weren't as inclined to buy these treats because of their high caloric content. This business simply didn't respond adequately to the move over decades to "healthier" foods. While its sales in 2011 totaled $2.5 billion it lost $341 million.

Another element contributing to the company's downfall was the sheer number (372) of collective-bargaining agreements with its various unions. According to The Wall Street Journal the company also had to "maintain 80 different health and benefit plans and 40 different pension plans." Additionally, "Union work rules usually required cake and bread products to be delivered to a single retail location using two separate trucks. Drivers weren't allowed to load their own vehicles, and the workers who loaded bread weren't allowed to load cake ..." Maybe someone thought this would "create" jobs but it certainly wasn't any way to efficiently run a business.

Adding to the chaos over the years was the changing ownership and management since the original company (Interstate Bakeries Corp.) was bought through a hostile takeover by DPF (formerly Data Processing Financial and General Corp.) in 1975. Since that time the company has merged with other entities, sold off facilities and upgraded others. Whatever the corporate structure is today, the only secured creditors appear to be banks and other financing entities.

I'm sure these iconic brands originally produced by Hostess will ultimately reappear under yet another owner. Unfortunately that won't benefit the workers who have lost their jobs.

The wonder will eventually be returned to Wonder Bread, and with some luck, the holidays too. Maybe the Twinkie-fairy can find a solution to this impasse before it's really too late and the cause is lost. I certainly hope so.